Officially, Cosmos atoms have yet to reach a cryptocurrency exchange, and until the Cosmos network votes to approve their listing, atoms aren’t tradable anywhere. Unofficially, you can buy and sell Cosmos tokens on half a dozen exchanges already, where the spot prices differ wildly. Welcome to the world of cryptocurrency derivatives, where futures markets can be found for scores of unreleased tokens.

Monfex Launches Telegram Crypto Derivatives

Monfex is the latest platform to offer leveraged futures on Telegram’s tokens, known as grams. The trading platform, founded in 2018 by Alexander Nekritin, follows on the heels of Xena in offering leveraged Telegram futures. Up to 50x leverage is available on Monfex (2x in the case of grams), which has latched onto the significant interest in the Telegram Open Network (TON). With 200 million users to tap into, expectations are high for widespread adoption of gram tokens from day one.

Regardless of how Telegram’s token fares, both in terms of price and in user adoption, Monfex and its ilk offer exposure to the asset for those who weren’t able to get into the private token sale, and enable price discovery before the tokens become officially tradable. There are a number of benefits to traders interested in speculating on futures markets for tokens like gram and Cosmos’ atom:

Futures contracts can provide high liquidity, resulting in low spreads and fast execution.

Leveraged futures require a smaller margin to enter a trade.

Futures provide the option to sell short, giving traders the ability to go each way.

There is no obligation to own the token to enter a trade.

Trade Any Token You Like on These Exchanges

There are strong incentives to dabble in futures markets, including an early shot at speculating on assets that are widely predicted to moon. There are, however, risks and downsides that must also be considered. For one thing, many of the exchanges that offer futures markets are relative unknowns that fall outside the top 20 platforms by trading volume. In addition, the spot prices for futures can differ wildly. At the time of publication, for example, Bitforex is quoting $20 per atom, while Gdac and Coinone are quoting a more reasonable $5.50. Other platforms offering futures for a variety of as-yet unlocked tokens include Bitbox, Crypto.com, Bitmesh, Hotbit, Xena, and Monfex.

Due to the largely unregulated nature of the crypto industry, exchanges in many jurisdictions are free to create their own derivatives and futures markets on a whim. Provided platforms have structured these markets so as to cover their liabilities whatever the outcome, there should be no problems. However, it is sometimes unclear to traders precisely what they are speculating on, and whether futures markets will be converted into regular markets once tokens are unlocked and deposits and withdrawals enabled. In January, for example, a handful of exchanges were caught offering Grin markets before the first coins had even been mined.

With just 80 investors believed to have gotten into the Telegram token sale, interest in acquiring grams has been high. Tokens are expected to be unlocked later this month, but in the interim, there is no shortage of exchanges willing to allow traders to speculate on the value these assets will reach. On Lbank, gram tokens are already changing hands for $0.89 apiece.

What are your thoughts on platforms that offer futures markets for ICO tokens? Let us know in the comments section below.